


The Beautiful Snow

by OrdinaryBird



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff without Plot, Gen, good boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 14:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4063381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrdinaryBird/pseuds/OrdinaryBird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos and Cecil take a much needed vacation. Cecil encounters snow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beautiful Snow

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know. I don't even think this is possible in canon. But it's cute so don't judge me. SNOW FLUFF.
> 
> (also one of my favorite headcanons is that Cecil's height is variable. so there's that.)

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

Cecil didn’t turn, didn’t even seem to register what he was saying. He was kneeling on the sofa, with his elbows on the back of it, staring out the window.

Carlos had proposed this little break a few months ago, and had consulted him carefully before making any plans or reservations. “You've been so stressed lately, it'll be good for you! And we'll have _so much fun_ ,” he’d said. “We can have hot cocoa and make snow monsters and forts and have romantic evenings by a fireplace--”

Cecil had stared at him blankly, then blinked. “Oh, sure,” he finally said, with a weak half-smile. “That sounds great.”

Despite his hesitation, he wouldn’t let Carlos change the plans. “If you want snow,” he said, “we’ll go to find snow. I trust you to choose the most beautiful snow our travel clearance can reach.”

He slept deeply on the drive, and was small enough when they arrived that Carlos could carry him in and settle him in bed with naught but words of love delivered in a sleepy mumble. And he looked so sweet and cozy in that big bed that Carlos slipped off his shoes and snuggled up beside him without bothering to get their bags and supplies.

 

Cecil had been staring out of the window for an hour. He only turned away when he heard the click of the door lock.

“No!” Cecil leapt off the sofa and lunged towards Carlos, grabbing him by the shoulders. He was taller now, protective, clutching him close. “You can’t go out there! You’ll die!”

“Sweetie, I have to get the bags,” Carlos said, smiling. Of course. Cecil had lived in a desert his entire life, and therefore probably perceived this perfectly survivable weather as dangerously frigid. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll go put another layer on.”

“Leave the bags, Carlos, they’re a lost cause. Look!” he pointed dramatically to the window, still pressing Carlos against him. “There’s some kind of toxic fallout! You were never a Girl Scout, you’re not resistant to radiation!”

“Were you ever a Girl Scout?”

“Briefly.” Cecil waved his hand dismissively. “The point is, it’s way too dangerous to leave this place until it’s done and settled.”

It took Carlos a moment to catch up on the rest of the conversation. “Honey,” he said soothingly, “have you ever seen snow before?”

“Of course I’ve seen snow,” Cecil snapped, “I am very familiar with snow. But I am more familiar with _radiation sickness_.”

“Oh my sweet Cecil, you precious creature. It’s not fallout. I promise. Come on, I’ll show you.”

“Carlos, please--”

“Can you trust me? It’s just snow. Here, when we get to the car I’ll get the geiger counter and prove to you, scientifically, that we are not going to get radiation sickness.”

“You promise?”

Carlos leaned forward and kissed him. “I swear.”

  
  


In some important ways, Cecil reminded Carlos of a cat. The comparison, he thought, watching the first hesitant step on the porch, the way he reached carefully toward the snow that had piled on the railing, was particularly appropriate today.

Cecil jerked his hand back and looked at Carlos over his shoulder, surprised. “It’s cold!”

Carlos nodded. “Of course it is. What did you expect?”

Cecil carefully pressed his hand into the layer of snow, then pulled it up. “It holds shapes.”

“Yeah! That’s how you make, like, snow men and things.”

“Wait, you can _make those_?”

“Of course. They don’t always just pop out of the ground overnight.”

“Whoa.”

Carlos trudged past him and down to the walkway, which had been clear when they arrived but was now covered in a few inches of snow. “Come on.”

Cecil picked his way carefully down the steps, pulling his hat down tight over his ears. Carlos already had the trunk open and was digging through his own bag by the time he caught up.

Without a word he flipped the switch and carefully handed the instrument over. Cecil peered suspiciously at the readout, waving the probe at the falling snow, then down at the pile beside the car.

“See?” Carlos said, in his smoothest and most reassuring voice. “Barely a tick.”

Cecil still looked skeptical. “You’re sure this is safe?”

“On my honor as a scientist.”

“Alright.” Cecil turned the geiger counter off and handed it back. “You’ve convinced me.”

They cleared out the trunk and trudged back to the door. When they were inside, Cecil pulled his hat off and stared.

“They look like little crystals!”

“Well, they are. Sort of. Not really.”

“Wait, where are they going? Oh no, they’ve melted.” Cecil looked at him so sadly Carlos had to bite his sleeve to suppress a smile. “And now my hat’s all wet.”

“I have an idea,” Carlos said. “Let's put a few more layers on and go back out.”

  
  


Somewhere, behind the scarf and the hat and the earmuffs, Cecil was probably smiling. He was definitely laughing, and he had those cute little wrinkles around his eyes. So Carlos figured it was reasonable to hypothesize that his boyfriend was smiling.

They made a snowman, which Cecil thought looked like a member of the City Council and therefore sculpted several soft meats out of carefully compacted snow. They made snow angels--err, Erikas--which was really neat until Cecil got a large clump of snow down the back of his neck and leapt about, shouting and wiggling.

And Carlos had to admit, for someone who’d never seen snow before, his fort was very impressive.

The snowball fight ended in playful wrestling, which itself lead to sweet, cold kisses, Cecil pulling his scarf down far enough to reveal his pink cheeks and wide grin (hypothesis confirmed!).

Carlos looked at him, touching his cheek gently with a gloved hand. How long had it been since he’d smiled like that, with his whole face? When was the last time his laugh was so full, so carefree?

“What?”

“Nothing.” Carlos shook his head with a small smile. He wasn’t sure he could express what he thought, how he felt. He wasn’t even sure such words existed. “You’re just cute and I love you. That’s all.”

“Oh, that’s all, is it? Well, I’ll have you know that _you're_ cuter and I love you too, what do you think about that?”

“Well, I think that’s just fine.” He leaned close again, kissing the end of Cecil’s cold, pink nose. “I think that’s absolutely fine.”

 


End file.
